August 21, 2008

Haven't Kept Up Like I Wanted

    I haven't been able to keep up with the Olympics the past couple of days like I wanted to, catching nothing but a bit of synchronized swimming on TV.  That one isn't quite one of my favorite events.
Silken has been keeping up with gymnastics some recently.  I've mostly only been able to keep up via second-hand input like this, but even that is fun.

The best update I recently got was from a friend who got some free tickets to a baseball game over the weekend.  Taiwan was playing, so the support from the Chinese crowd was really high-energy.  My friend isn't very familiar with baseball, so asked me for a run-down of the rules before the game.  I sent her what I could, and she said it was enough to help her and those with her feel involved in the game.  (I think the Olympic atmosphere is enough, no matter what the event!)

My friends also got tickets to watch Italy play in the football match on Saturday.  Their busy schedule of watching baseball and football made it so that they didn't get to go see the Bird's Nest and the Swimming Cube, but they still said the trip was memorable.  (And it gives us something to see when we go to Beijing together at a later date.)
Posted by poetically challenged at 10:19:05 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

August 18, 2008

Women's Table Tennis

The women's table tennis gold medal contest was a fun one, and one that was bound to test my loyalties, with China playing against Singapore.  Actually, it wasn't a hard choice for me at all.  I always pull for the underdog, so Singapore was bound to be the team I would pull for.

The ladies making up Singapore's team couldn't pull it off.  They never even really came close, though I think they competed well throughout the match.  The team from China was simply better, and that showed up several times throughout the event.

The Singapore team achieved something great for the nation, bringing home a silver medal for us.  It is the first medal Singapore has won in 48 years, and we are proud of the team for winning it!


Not an Olympic event, but still, this is something relevant and worth pointing to:  take a look at this review of The Concrete Dragon
Posted by poetically challenged at 09:30:22 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

August 16, 2008

Watch Them Fly!

I got to watch the women's track and field events this morning.  Wow!  Those 100m prelim races were great!   I loved watching them fly.  The US team was very impressive for the women's 100m.

And the men's races were just as exciting.  It has been a fun day for track and field events, and promises to continue to impress in the days to come.
Posted by poetically challenged at 22:10:19 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

August 15, 2008

Keeping Up With Asian Cinema

Here's a few spots to help you keep up with movie-makers in Asia:

Bollywood Mantra for all of the latest out of the subcontinent


Kung Fu Cult Cinema for regular reviews of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Thai films
Posted by poetically challenged at 09:08:01 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

August 14, 2008

Disappointed New Zealanders, but France is Pleased

Yesterday evening I got to watch the qualifiers for women's swimming at the Olympics in Beijing.  The women's 4x200 relay was very exciting.  The New Zealand team swam in a time that would have marked the national record for NZ.  Unfortunately, they were disqualified when one swimmer took off a little too early.  That must be heartbreaking for them!

France, on the other hand, must be quite pleased with their women's 4x200 relay team.  They set a new Olympic record!  Congratulations, France.

I didn't get to see the finals this morning, but plan to catch the recap on the news tonight.  Last night's race was very, very exciting.
Posted by poetically challenged at 19:21:08 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

August 12, 2008

Singapore's Tao Li

Yesterday morning at 10:24 am, many TVs in Singapore were tuned in to watch the Olympics. Singapore's Tao Li was competing in the 100m butterfly finals.  

She came in fifth, and made Singaporeans proud. It is hard for a nation whose population would make it nothing more than a small-scale city if it were located in countries like China to compete with other nations that have massive populations from which to raise up athletes. But today Tao Li did a nice job of representing Singapore on the world stage.

I'm with all those who would like to say thanks to Tao Li for representing Singapore well.
Posted by poetically challenged at 10:08:51 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

August 11, 2008

Catching a Recap of the Beijing Olympics

I was pleased to see the team handball prelims on the recap of the Beijing Olympics this morning.  I first came into contact with team handball in 1984 at the LA Olympics.  If you aren't familiar with it, here's a little video introduction:


It is a very exciting, fast-paced game.  My family and I really loved watching the event, and it has always made me a bit sad that it is so difficult to find on the sports networks.  It seems the only time I ever get to see it is when during the Olympics.

This morning I got to watch a little bit of a men's team handball match. Sadly, I saw China get beat.  Poland gave them a real drubbing, beating the Olympic hosts 33-19.

Shortly after, I got to see a victory for China too.  In Judo, Xian Dongmei won the gold medal.  It was great to see her win the gold in front of the home crowd.

Men's basketball is on now, with China facing off with the US.  Yao Ming's reception when he came into the arena was amazing.

It's shaping up to be a fun Olympics!
Posted by poetically challenged at 09:49:03 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

August 09, 2008

The Closing of the Opening Ceremony

I am watching the end of the closing ceremony for the Beijing Olympics now.  I wonder — do you think the phrase "the Long March" came to many minds tonight as the long parade of athletes took their turns to march into the Olympic Stadium?  It was a long procession, and joyous as it always is.

I like the choice to start 8/8/08 at 8:08 pm.  What could be more prosperous for a Chinese event?  

I am loving right now seeing the Chinese flag and the Olympic flag fluttering so strongly together side by side in the breeze.  It's a beautiful, long awaited sight for me... and I am not even (officially) Chinese!  I wonder what feelings must be swelling inside of the Chinese nationals watching right now?

The oath is now being taken.  The torch soon to be lit.  It is a moment to appreciate, and to anticipate the feats that will be attained over the next few weeks by humans who have dedicated themselves to hard work and achievement.


Posted by poetically challenged at 00:38:32 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

August 07, 2008

Beijing Olympics: tomorrow's the big day!

Tomorrow is the big day — the Beijing Olympics will start at last!  It was nearly ten years ago that I stood in Tiananmen Square listening to students push to get the Olympics in Beijing, and I've been watching as the day approaches... and now it is almost here.

I won't get to watch all of the Olympics on TV, but I will watch what I can.  I'll post regular updates here too, since it is relevant to this blog.  Stop in over the next few days, and you'll see my thoughts on the Beijing Olympics.

I'm glad to see the arrival of the Olympics in China!

Posted by poetically challenged at 08:20:58 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

August 04, 2008

pointers to posts of interest

While I was in Shanghai in the late winter and into the spring, I wrote a few posts on my other blog that might be of interest to readers here.  They also deal with Chinese culture and language, and with language learning.  Here's the links:

Some thoughts on suicide in China


About the difference between three closely related Chinese words


Frustrations with language learning, and some fun thoughts that resulted from some frustration situations


Some interesting thoughts I heard in a lecture while I was in Shanghai


A review of a performance of Hamlet in Shanghai



Posted by poetically challenged at 23:17:39 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |
1 2